


taurus rising

by blastellanos



Category: Baseball RPF
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-06-30 21:33:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15760137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blastellanos/pseuds/blastellanos
Summary: Chase shakes his head."I'm retired." And he tries to shut the door.





	taurus rising

**Author's Note:**

  * For [luciferinasundaysuit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/luciferinasundaysuit/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [luciferinasundaysuit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/luciferinasundaysuit/pseuds/luciferinasundaysuit) in the [boysofsummer18](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/boysofsummer18) collection. 



> Thanks to [ohtempora](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohtempora/pseuds/ohtempora) for the beta!

Chase knows a member of the order when he sees them. He can nearly smell the brimstone coming off of them, like some sort of international call sign for those who spend their lives in the trenches. It's a unique scent-- a lot of people said it smelled like sulfur, but he thinks those are the people who've never been there, never truly smelled it. 

So when there's a knock on the door and he throws it open, he recognizes one of them at the get-go. He's got a young face, with blue eyes and a strong jaw. He knows the look in the kid's eye and it's almost like the look Chase used to see every time he'd look in the mirror. The hunger for the hunt, for the _fight_. 

Chase shakes his head. 

"I'm retired." And he tries to shut the door. 

The kid puts his foot in the door and prevents Chase from slamming it in his face, pushes his way in. 

"I don't care," the guy says and he jabs Chase in the center of his chest. "This is _your_ mess and you're going to help clean it up." 

"What are you talking about?" Chase doesn't really know-- he's been out of the game a few years now, trying to settle down, trying to build a life for himself that wasn't a string of patching up burns and cuts and leaving a swath of carnage behind as he went onto the next fight. That wasn't a way to live. 

The kid takes a folded up sheet of printer paper from his pocket and slaps it on the table. Chase gives him an unimpressed look and moves over to the paper and picks it up, flicking it open and letting his eyes trail over the image there. 

She looks the same as she did years ago. With the flimsy lacy gauzy dress over the expanse of her blood-red skin, the voluptuous curves and long black hair and perfect face which had made him hesitate. This kid-- someone whose familiarity rings to him-- _Jeff_. 

It'd been so long since Chase saw him he didn't notice at first; but this brings it all flooding back. 

"Dad says you let her go, and well, she broke her promise, Chase." His hands go on his hips and Chase frowns more. He tosses the paper back down. 

"Not my problem, kid." 

"It's about to be your problem." The kid's tone is flinty, like he's about to make some kind of fight out of it. "This ain't gonna be something you can just stick your head in the sand for. You made this mess and you can help get us out of it." 

Chase shakes his head a little, but the kid has a point. If she didn't keep her promise… 

"We had a deal," Chase says, looking at the paper again. 

"Oh, the demoness lied, color me shocked." 

"You're just like your dad." 

The kid rolls his eyes. "Get your silver bullets, because we're going to have to take care of this." 

Chase does have some level of personal responsibility and he goes to the closet to get the things he'd put away years ago. And while he doesn't think he's going to be as good as he once was, he hasn't lost his step. 

The kid-- ("Name's Corey.")-- hovers like he thinks that Chase is going to make a run for it. But Chase doesn't. He grabs the still well-oiled magnum from the gunsafe and loads it in silence, while Corey looks around the bedroom in fascination. 

There's news clippings, of demons he'd faced and fought, keys to the city and medals from the president, trophies from the weird and dangerous things he'd seen. 

"How is Jeff?" Chase asks, pulling on a shirt over some lightweight armor. Corey's eyes snap away when Chase looks at him and he wonders what he was looking at. 

"He left a few years ago, I assume he's alright, but we don't keep in touch." 

Chase hums quietly. 

"Didn't you have a brother?" 

"Yeah." 

"He in the family business?" 

"Nah-- he plays baseball, can you imagine?" 

Chase laughs and shakes his head and he decides, for better or worse, he likes this kid. 

*

Lilutu has grown stronger over the years. At least, that's what Chase thinks is the problem, as her lair was much more tamed when he'd gone through it the first time. Now, it spans like a mansion of endless proportion, and he feels some kind of strangeness as he walks through, trying to keep his wits about him. 

Corey jumps at everything, as though he's expecting her to burst through the wall. Chase knows she's mostly an illusionist, that the firebreathing devils and dragons that lurk around the corners are nothing more than figments of the imagination.. 

He demonstrates this for Corey by standing in the middle of one of the great firebreathing beasts-- but it seems to do little to ease his jumpiness. He supposes that he can't blame Corey, but it's still irritating. This was the reason Chase never took apprentices. 

This was also the reason he'd retired years ago. Too many kids in the game, and honestly, he wasn't as young as he used to be. Demon hunting took a toll. 

The swirling mist is strange, clinging like it's physically there. It's weirdly pinkish, sparkling like a river when sunlight hits. Chase feels weird, fuzzy,and he blinks away the feeling as best he can, as they continue to go deeper and deeper towards the Inner Sanctum. 

"Dad had a picture of you and him in his room," Corey says, without warning, stopping in the middle of a hallway. "I always loved looking at it, and when he left I took it out of his room and put it in mine." 

Chase glances over at Corey, watching the flush on his cheeks and wondering what brought that on. Maybe the mist is some sort of-- truth mist? That doesn't make a lot of sense.Chase wants to know why, more than anything, but he doesn't think it's a good idea. 

Chase thinks he might-- thinking back to the way Corey's gaze had darted away like he got caught out doing something bad, when he'd been there watching Chase get ready. Chase shakes his head and tries to clear the fuzziness away. 

"Why?" Chase doesn't mean to say it. 

Corey's cheeks go impossibly red, splotchy and uneven, high on his cheekbones. Even the tips of his ears go red, the color tracing down his neck and disappearing into the collar of his shirt. 

His mouth works a few times, opening, closing, and he looks nearly panicked. 

"Oh my god, I can't lie." Corey blurts out. Chase's brows raise. 

"What?" 

"I tried to say something and I can't say it, I can't tell you a lie." 

Chase frowns more and wonders if he's being afflicted too. He doesn't know if he should test it and give himself away. 

"I found you compelling. Like, as soon as I figured out what those feelings were, I realized I didn't just admire you for the stories my dad told about you, but I wanted to know you." Corey pauses and clamps his mouth shut, one hand covering his lips. He groans from behind his palm. 

Chase's brows are almost at his hairline now. 

"You had a crush on me?" Chase feels stupid saying it like that, but--

" _Have_." Corey corrects and then covers his face with his hands again. And that's-- interesting. 

"We need to explore that later, but we have more pressing matters at hand." 

"I know, but that feels stupid, I want to--" Corey's suddenly close, his fingers brushing over Chase's jaw. He'd be lying if he said it didn't feel nice. Chase can't remember the last time someone touched him with gentleness. He breathes in and it feels like the world is slowing down. 

Chase grabs at Corey's wrist though and pushes his hand away. 

(It takes effort, as desire beats through his blood like a war drum.) 

" _Later_." Chase repeats firmly. He has to keep focused, because he knows that this distraction is what Lilutu wants to continue undeterred with her plan. He has no intention of letting her go through with it. Corey just nods and tightens his hands into fists and shoves them into his pocket. 

The pink mist swirls on. 

"You're doing good, kid." Chase sighs, and watches him light up. 

*

Lilutu is in her true form when they finally reach the center of her lair. A great big hulking beast with a huge wingspan and claws that look like gleaming silver hooks. Chase wants to push Corey behind him, but he doesn't know what his skill level is. She's towering above them, body glowing red and black like a hot coal. 

It smells like brimstone, like Hell, and the orbs she'd promised him she'd destroy circle around her head, flashing different colors over her diamond like horns. He sees the rainbows casting through the curves, and he squeezes his eyes shut, wishing he could take back what he'd done. 

"They're aligned now." Corey says, his tone dull. "She's going to awaken." 

Chase shakes his head and he motions for Corey, ducking behind some of the debris of the cracked floor as to not disturb the spectacle before them-- _yet_. 

"She only has one weak spot, and we're rapidly reaching a point where that's gonna fade." Chase says and he nods to her demonic form."It's on her forehead, we're going to need to aim it just right, because it's already shrinking." 

Gleaming in purple on her forehead is a glyph, pulsing with energy, slowly overtaken by the mottled coal.

"I know what has to be done." Corey says. He nods some. "I'll distract her. You go and line up the shot." 

"That's a terrible idea." But also the only workable one. Corey doesn't look like he has a ton of experience.  
"Yeah, but it's the one we've got." Corey starts to stand and Chase grabs him by the elbow and pulls him back. "What?" 

Chase looks at Corey's face, at the way his brow furrows with annoyance, and the determined glint in his eyes, and the way his mouth is like a slash across his face, lips pressed together. Chase feels bold-- or this is a last chance, so he might as well. 

He leans forward and presses his forehead to Corey's. 

"Gonna be okay." Chase promises. "I got your back." 

Some of the tension fades, enough, and when Corey moves, Chase can feel his breath across his lips. He feels his heart pound, but the moment passes as Corey reaches into the pack he has with him and draws out two bottles, half filled with some kind of liquid. Chase stands and heads towards the back of the lair, fingers fitting into the cracks in the walls as he starts to scale up for a better shot. 

Explosions echo against the floor behind him. He wants to look down and see what's going on, but he knows he can't break his stride, or his mission, as the window they have to finish it isn't going to be open forever. 

He can see the balcony nearby, it's almost at the right height, he can wing it from there if need be, and he scrambles as best he can, using bolted tapestries and jutted out stone to keep scaling towards his goals. 

Another explosion goes off and Chase risks a glance. 

Corey's still upright, darting between the leathery fluttering wings, and the lash of a tail, and the wicked strike of claws. Chase wonders if it'd be an appropriate time to try and re-make his peace with God and say a prayer of safety for the kid-- but. 

He tears his gaze away and readjusts his grip as his palms suddenly feel sweaty, and he realizes there's more than one reason he doesn't do this anymore. There's an ache like his shoulder is about to pop as he hauls his weight up without any easily reachable foot holds. 

His grip slps and he can't quite catch on, so he draws his gun from the holster and twists himself in the air. He sees the flash of purple and he squeezes the trigger. He hears the telltale deafening sound of a gun going off, his ears ringing.He hits the ground and everything goes black. 

*

When he awakens, the room is normal. The weird looking stone walls and jets of fire are gone-- not the orbs, those are dimly lit, scattered across the ground. 

"You're awake." Corey's face suddenly obscures his line of sight, a big grin splitting his face. Chase remembers his first successful hunt, how it made him feel the same way. "You hit your head pretty bad but that was-- wow--" 

"Shut up." Chase's cheeks feel warm. 

"--most impressive thing I've ever seen, just how did you even _aim_." 

"Some people got it and some don’t." Chase says blandly. But he thinks this kid might have it. Maybe even more "it" than Chase had-- has. 

"So… it's later?" Corey says, once he's gotten Chase back upright, and his head is still throbbing but things feel more _normal_ now. 

Chase nods a little and slips a hand at the small of Corey's back. 

"Later is my middle name." 

Corey has the good grace to wait until he's in the car, then he surges forward and presses his mouth to Chase's and for a moment-- a brief and blissful moment-- things feel _right_. 

"I'm still retired." Chase says. Corey puts the car in drive. 

"I have a little while to convince you to change your mind." 

Chase brushes his fingers over his lips and watches in profile as Corey starts to drive and well-- maybe coming out of retirement for a new partner wouldn't be so bad.


End file.
